


What Lies Beyond Lies

by Tkhan0



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Characters will be added as they appear - Freeform, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Someone take this away from me, Talent Development Plan AU, gen for now because I cant write relationships for shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-05 01:51:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12784371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tkhan0/pseuds/Tkhan0
Summary: Kokichi wasn't stupid, he knew that he couldn't risk accidentally setting off his forbidden action, so he took a deep breath and made to check his action.Time seemed to stop, and the world froze. He let out the breath he had been holding in a harsh gasp as his blood turned to ice.The words that were being reflected at him were "Answering a question with a lie."





	1. Episode 1: There's a First Time for Everyone

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [All My Secrets](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12425904) by [Fastern](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fastern/pseuds/Fastern). 



> Okay that title might be a wip because im literally the worst at these things and just wanted to get this out there.
> 
> Someone please take this beautiful prompt away from me before I fuck it up. Actually, it might already be too late. I've been working on this for awhile.
> 
> Okay so backstory, I was browsing fanart on pixiv and I came across this album (I can’t link to individual pictures unfortunately so slight nsfw): https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=65764431  
> Towards the end there was a comic that had a bunch of v3 characters and they had the new game bangles from the dr3 anime and I was like “This needs to be a thing.” 
> 
> I can’t read Japanese so if anyone knows what the comic actually says it’d be super cool if you could tell me but anyway that’s my main inspiration for this… thing I’ve been writing. 
> 
> Another credit goes to the amazing user Fastern and their work All My Secrets, because if I hadn’t already read that (which if YOU haven’t you definitely need to) I wouldn’t even have considered writing this. Hopefully by the end of this my work doesn't seem too much like a rip-off of theirs, but for now I'll settle for "heavily inspired by."
> 
> I would also like to apologize in advance for my atrocious usage of names, I watched the anime subbed but I played the game with english localization. So I switch between the first and last names pretty much at random by this point, though I try to stick with last names for dr3 characters and firsts for drv3 characters. If it really bugs a lot of people I'll end up editing it so let me know. 
> 
> Anyway, enough of these boring notes, enjoy!

Shuichi looked over the city below, a mess of sprawling rubble and semi-erect buildings dotting the horizon. With a sigh, he looked up into the crimson sky, the loud whirring of the nearby chopper blades drowning out any real thought. He turned back around to face the helicopter, preparing to board, when he heard a voice above the din of the blades.

"Hey, Shuichi! Wait up!" Kaito came dashing across the rooftop to stand in front of Shuichi.

"Kaito...? You need something?" Kaito looked like he had ran the whole way here, Shuichi noted.

Kaito took a moment to catch his breath before giving him an unnaturally serious look. "...Hey... are you really going to the hearing?” he asked.

"Is that even a question? You stopped me while I was in the middle of boarding the helicopter."

Kaito hesitated before continuing."...But why? None of us have even talked to him in like, half a year." The confusion was clear on his face.

"Kaito, he was our classmate for  _two_ years. I don't think he was that kinda person. I'm not just gonna sit here and wait for them to find him guilty." Shuichi looked at him with what he hoped was a look of unwavering determination.

"But we still didn't even know him that well, did we? He lied about anything and everything, so what makes you so sure he isn't guilty? Why would you go that far for someone who trusted no one? I don't get it."

Before Shuichi could formulate a good response, a familiar voice cut in.

“Ah! Kaito, Shuichi, please hold up!”

“Huh? Kiibo? What are you doing here?” Shuichi asked.

“I would like to go as well.” Kiibo responded, to their surprise.

“Wait, what?!” Kaito exclaimed. “I can understand Shuichi, but you Kiibo? Why would you want to go to the hearing? Wasn’t he always teasing you?”

“I-I – while that is true… I came to an understanding with Kokichi before the Tragedy had struck. I told him that I maintained we were and had always been friends. I... I still believe that to be true. I am inclined to think he believed so too.” Kiibo averted his gaze as he said this but quickly refocused on Shuichi. “So please! Allow me to come with you, Shuichi!”

 “Tch… I don’t get it, but fine. I’m coming too.”

“Kaito?!” Shuichi wasn't sure if he had heard him right. Kaito was the last person he'd expect to rush to Kokichi's defense.

“I still don’t trust that guy, but I can’t let my sidekick go by himself. It’s gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of me, Shuichi!” He explained.

Shuichi studied him for a moment, looking for any signs of hesitation or doubt. It was clear that once Kaito had made up his mind on something there was no convincing him otherwise. "...Ok. Alright, that settles it then.” Shuichi gave them both a small, apprehensive smile.

Kaito gave him a wide grin as he threw out a thumbs up. “And this time, I’ll get the truth outta him no matter what!”

"Yes, let us not waste anymore time." Kiibo said, prompting them to board the helicopter.

They all watched in silence as the city below them shrunk to nothing but a tiny speck in the distance.

* * *

Kokichi would never admit it but he was getting a  _teensy_  bit worried his lies were catching up to him and that maybe, just  _maybe_ , he might not be able to get out of this one.  

No one had seen him since the tragedy, he had made sure of it. He didn’t want to deal with any of them after he not-so-subtly declined the future foundation's offer to join the rest of his classmates with the promise of his very own sub-division to seal the deal. None of his classmates had ever really gotten close to revealing his talent to be true- though he always suspected Shuichi had gotten closer to figuring him out then he let on- but the future foundation had Hope's Peak scouts among their number and they could not deny his talent was both real and potentially useful.  

Still, he had declined their offer. The Tragedy had taken something from everyone and had shook the world to its core. He didn't have much to lose, but he lost it all the same. He hadn't been able to come in contact with any of the missing members of DICE since the Tragedy had occurred. He knew it was only a matter of time, they were still out there- they had to be. They wouldn't just die. And once he found all of them they would reform and expand their efforts to the post-apocalyptic world tenfold. And just maybe, this time they'd focus on relief efforts over pranks. But he knew the only way he'd be able to continue searching for them and reform DICE would be by himself. He couldn't trust his classmates and he certainly couldn't trust the Future Foundation. 

If he had things his way, he'd be searching for them right now, but the circumstances he found himself in weren't really in his control.  

He had been scouting one of the better areas of the city for once- half a year and he still hadn't managed to cover much ground, but that was to be expected when you were working by yourself in a wasteland-  but that had been a mistake apparently. While Kokichi was pretty good at hiding and had no trouble slipping in and out of random groups of survivors, he hadn't been trying particularly hard to stay off the radar or out of sight from the future foundation. It's not like he had a reason to really, but those thoughts changed quickly the moment he was cornered and apprehended by the unmistakably groomed cut-and-paste future foundation agents. He wondered what he had done to warrant this but figured quickly that whatever it was must have been pretty severe as they wordlessly handcuffed him and surrounded him to block off all means of escape. As they began marching towards their destination- likely a helicopter or some mode of transportation he guessed- he had no choice but to comply. His curiosity quickly got the better of him though, as he asked no one in particular, "Hey, what gives? Do you guys even know who I am?"  

A man in the front replied. "Yes. Kokichi Oma, former Ultimate Supreme Leader of the 79th Class of Hope's Peak Academy. We have orders to bring you in for questioning." Okay. So this wasn't a misunderstanding. Was he being reprimanded for not joining the Future Foundation? They didn’t really have to go this far did they? He didn't have anything to hide but almost out of habit and a need to give nothing away he put on a more elaborate persona.

"Uh oh." He had said, a pout in his voice. "Did I get caught? I can't believe the idiots over at the future foundation saw through my plans to gather survivors for my organization and overthrow them."  

It was the furthest thing from the truth but even if he had nothing to gain by hiding it, he still wasn't about to let them know what he had been up to since parting ways with everyone.  

However, he had a feeling it was something he was going to come to regret when he heard another agent say "Are you getting this?" To which a tinny voice, clearly coming from some sort of speaker, said "Yes, loud and clear."  

They had arrived at their destination, a helicopter- just as he had suspected, cutting off any further chances of him getting information out of them before being sent who knows where for questioning. With a rough push from behind, he was forced into the back of the helicopter a guard sat on either side of him scrutinizing his every move.  

He had no idea what had prompted all this, but seeing as he was surrounded in a helicopter with none of his usual picks and trained guards on either side of him he didn't really have a choice but to go along with it- wherever they were taking him. He would play their game for the time being. 

* * *

Kokichi had grown sick of alternating between staring down the guard to his left, counting the squares on his checkerboard scarf, and looking out the window- nothing but water, he had noted, must be headed towards an island- long before they had landed, so by the time the helicopter had done so he welcomed any change, including being prodded out of the helicopter by the barrel of a gun to his back.  

They were on the roof of an immaculately built building that towered well over 50 floors. There could be no doubt this was future foundation property, but what concerned him was the fact that it was built on some remote island, conveniently located far, far away from anyone else. It could be a prison for all he knew, but if something went down here he knew there was a chance no one would come save them- him and whoever else in the future foundation he was dealing with- or that at the very least they'd take a while to get here. 

They were just about to proceed inside when even the future foundation agents were caught off guard by the sound of another helicopter approaching. Given their reaction, it seemed they had unexpected visitors. He couldn't catch much over the noise of the helicopter and the tense conversation the agents who were with him were having with the ones who had just arrived, but he heard the indistinct squabbling of some passengers being none too politely forced off the helicopter. So it wasn't just future foundation agents? This was an interesting development. He had no way of telling just who these visitors were without turning around, but he felt a small sense of dread build in the pit of his stomach at the thought, for some inexplicable reason. Swallowing it down, he turned to see what the commotion was about- 

And couldn’t stop the involuntary widening of his eyes as they landed on Shuichi, Kaito and Kiibo for the first time in half a year. 

A tense silence fell over both parties as they all locked eyes on each other, and Kokichi had to fight the urge to squirm under their gazes, wanting nothing more than to make a break for the edge of the building and dive right off it, plummeting to his death.

Instead, he put on the most cloying smile he could muster and sang out “If it isn’t my beloved classmates! What are you doing here with criminal scum like me?”

“K-Kokichi! You don’t mean to say that you're guilty, do you?!” Kiibo stammered out.

“Huhhh? Of course I did. I’m 200% guilty, as charged.”

“What?! Quit screwing around, Kokichi, this is serious business!” Kaito exclaimed. “You know what they’re charging you for, don’t you?!”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, Kaito, of course I know what I’ve been charged with.” He lied. “The better question is, how do YOU know what I’ve been charged with, and if you guys already know then why are you here?” It was a genuine question, he knew by the fact that they weren’t handcuffed that they weren’t in any kind of trouble with the future foundation, so why had they been brought here? Had word got around that quickly that he had been apprehended? Did they perhaps beg to come see him get interrogated so they could laugh at him when he was indicted? Or…

No. Why would they care what happened to him? He had made it clear he didn’t want to work with any of them. He didn’t need their help. He especially didn’t need their pity.

Kaito didn’t respond, and they stared at each other for a tense moment, Kaito’s fist curled at his side, a look of pure frustration on his face. Kokichi turned his attention to Shuichi, who had been awfully quiet this whole time. He was shocked to find, rather than disgust or fear or even frustration that Shuichi was quietly studying his every move and reaction, as if trying to gauge how much of what he had said was true just now. But more importantly he noticed a hint of something incomprehensible; fondness. A look that said he wanted to trust Kokichi, even after everything he’s ever said and done. 

He hated that look. When had Shuichi gotten past his fears of learning the truth? 

Kokichi wanted to be as far  _far_   away from his classmates as possible, so he settled with making himself as unapproachable as possible. 

He turned around laughing maniacally as he said “Oh man, I’m so flattered you came to see me marched off to my death!” It was an exaggeration, whatever he did to piss the future foundation off couldn’t be  _that_  bad, could it? His voice suddenly got dangerously low as he said “But I don’t need the backup dancers for this show, so you can go now.” He made to walk off but not before adding “I don’t want you guys around to ruin my superly awesome trial, so you better get lost!” 

Kokichi threw one last look over his shoulder at his former classmates as he was prodded forward, and flashed them a malicious grin that dared them to even try and follow him. 

They stood there in stunned silence long after Kokichi’s small form had disappeared into the building followed by a wall of future foundation’s guards with their guns trained on him. 

It was Kaito who eventually spoke up “Geez… Just what was that about? Was that guy being serious?” 

“I can’t say for sure… but I don’t think so.” Shuichi responded. 

“So what now, sidekick? This is your case isn’t it? What do you want to do now?” 

“I think we should go in there after him. He said he didn’t want us there but I won’t be able to come to a conclusion if I’m not there for the trial. I need to see what kind of evidence they have against him.” 

“I don’t know if we should we really go in there after he told us not to… but if that’s what my sidekick needs to do to solve the case, I won’t question it! Lead the way, bro!” Kaito responded, bumping his fists together enthusiastically in what had become his trademark pose. 

“Uh, actually, I kinda need a favor from one of you…” Shuichi said avoiding eye contact.  

“Hmm? What’s up?” Kaito asked, suddenly puzzled. 

“Well… I kinda need someone to stay out here with the helicopter. Shuichi didn’t want to have to force anyone to stay behind, when it was obvious this matter was very important to all three of them, but he had his reasons. “If the evidence they use to convict him is in any way not absolute, or some sort of investigation can be done to prove otherwise, someone has to be out here so we can be ready to go because, if I can manage to delay the proceedings, they won’t give us very long to make a case. That, and..." Shuichi couldn't help but be anxious, they were too far from everyone else and it worried him more than he let on "If anything goes wrong, I need someone on guard outside ready to get help."  

"I understand. I'll remain outside the building until you check back in with me." For a second time today, surprisingly it was Kiibo who spoke up and volunteered himself. 

"Thank you, Kiibo." Shuichi smiled at him, expressing his gratitude. "Now that that's settled let's go, Kaito." 

"Right behind you, bro." 

* * *

"It's been awhile since we've all met like this." Tengan addressed everyone in the room. 

"If we're all meeting here, could it be...?" Gozu asked. 

"That is correct. We have apprehended a student from the 79th class who may have been a cohort in Enoshima's scheme, and could very well be planning an uprising. The meeting today will determine his fate." 

“But hey Tengan, isn’t it dangerous for us all to be here at once? If someone attacks the place while we’re here we’ll all be wiped out.” Ruruka spoke with indifference, a bored look on her face. 

“Remind me why we  _all_  need to be here exactly? It’s not like he was on our side in the first place. Makoto’s the one who betrayed the future foundation, shouldn’t  _he_  be the one on trial today?” Izayoi added through a mouthful of sweet from his spot on Ruruka's lap. 

“We will decide his fate in due time. This building was personally constructed by Munakata and isn't on any maps." Tengan reassured. "For now, we cannot allow any remnants of despair to go unchecked.” he said evenly. 

A bang punctuated the air as Juzo slammed his fist on the table “So why don’t we just kill them both and get it over with?!" Almost as an afterthought, he added "The old Tengan wouldn't have hesitated..." 

“I’m not really convinced either.” Ruruka cut in before Tengan could reply. “I mean the remnants destroyed the world and we’re practically inviting one here.” 

“Hey, we don’t know that for sure.” Yukizome piped up from her spot in the back cleaning the board.  

“Seems like an open and shut case to me.” Juzo grumbled. “Kid was a punk the whole time he had been at Hope’s Peak. I bet him and Enoshima were pretty close.” 

“Yes, that’s right. With Makoto Naegi’s betrayal we must tie up any unnecessary loose ends.” Tengan ignored Sakakura's outburst. “If word got out that another former ultimate was a remnant and had been freely roaming the city until recently, or that the Ultimate Hope had sheltered the other remnants, there’d be chaos.” 

“So that’s why we’re here, huh?” Bandai chirped. “The wolf attacks when you pay it the least attention.” 

"What does what you're saying even mean? Stop talking, you're too creepy!" Ruruka demanded. 

"Ehhh?! Creepy?!" Bandai cried. 

The room quickly devolved into chaos, increasing in volume, as they squabbled amongst themselves, and just as Tengan was lamenting the fact that they couldn't have a meeting like this, the door swung open and a hush fell over the room.

"So this is humanity's last hope, huh?" Munakata questioned, scanning the silent room. "Even as we speak more people fall victim and despair runs rampant. Do we really have time for such inconsequential small talk?" In one smooth motion he stepped onto his chair and on top of the table as he made his way over to Tengan. For a brief, tense, moment he stared Tengan down in silence, before Gozu interjected. 

"Control yourself, Munakata, there's no need to act that way when the Chairman's right there." 

Munakata let out a deep sigh as he shut his eyes against an oncoming headache. "You weren't always like this, Tengan. You wouldn't have allowed this in the past." He decided to drop the subject for now. "Tengan, why exactly did you have us all meet here? Is this really a matter that requires all of the future foundation leaders?" 

Tengan arched an eyebrow at this "I'm shocked, Munakata. You of all people should know an ultimate allied with the remnants of despair is no small matter." 

"Believe me, I have no intentions of letting his crimes go unseen and unpunished. All despair must be crushed underfoot like a bug, and eradicated from this world. But I don't believe this should take priority of Naegi's betrayal. He harbored several remnants of despair, and this has been proven beyond a doubt." Munakata got off the table as he said this, motioning for Yukizome to take her place as well. 

"I understand your concern, Munakata, but there must be an order to things. Naegi's hearing will be soon enough, but we have other matters to attend to first. Even though Kokichi is only one person, this is no trivial matter, I trust you know what type of person we're dealing with?" 

"Yes, the Ultimate Supreme Leader. What I don’t understand is that why you've chosen to hold a hearing, if this such an important matter to you why not simply eliminate him? The old you wouldn-" Munakata was cut off by the abrupt sound of the doors swinging open as Kokichi made his entrance, already handcuffed, leaving behind several guards who had stopped just outside the doors.  

"Nee-hee-hee, you rang? I could've swore I heard someone call my name just now." Kokichi did a quick inventory of the room, realizing he recognized enough faces to figure out what was going on here. Most of the people here had been former ultimates, and had been leaders of sub-divisons of the future foundation back when it was first starting out. He even recognized some of them as staff from Hope's Peak when he was in school. 

Munakata didn't let him get much further "Restrain him, Sakakura." He ordered, despite the fact that Kokichi was already handcuffed. Kokichi felt strong hands pin his arms even further, almost to the point of numbness, from behind.  

"You even  _think_  about making a move,  _punk_ , and I'll break both of your arms in half." Sakakura whispered harshly. He didn't want to find out if Sakakura would keep good on his promise. 

"Alright, alright, relax. I wouldn't  _dream_  of being anywhere but here with such  _capable_  leaders." He drawled in a sickly-sweet tone designed solely to piss his captor off.  

"You little..." He could feel the raw anger radiating from behind him as searing pain rushed up one of his arms. Sakakura was twisting it so hard he was afraid he might actually make good on his threat by accident. 

"That's enough, Sakakura." Munakata said, putting an end to his attempts to teach Kokichi a lesson. "Kokichi Oma, Former Ultimate Supreme Leader and member of the 79th class of Hope's Peak Academy, you are hereby under arrest under suspicion of being a remnant of despair and attempting to a co-opt a resurgence."   

Kokichi stiffened at these words, but in his head everything clicked together. The sudden arrest, the remote location, all of these high-level future foundation figures. They wouldn't go through all this trouble for just any hearing. In their eyes everything he had done since the Tragedy had begun was suspicious, and he had probably just added fuel to the fire. Still, everything seemed a bit sudden. What had prompted them to take action now of all times? Something big must've happened, he deduced, that had put the future foundation on alert. 

Just then the doors slammed open, and who else but the last two people he wanted to see came in. 

"Wait!" Shuichi yelled to the room at large. Realizing what he had just done he reddened and looked down, pulling his cap lower over his head. 

"We need to start locking those doors when we start our meetings..." Kokichi heard Sakakura mumble under his breath. 

Before Shuichi could continue Munakata spoke up "And just who are you two?" He asked to Shuichi and Kaito.  

"Shuichi Saihara and Kaito Momota, sir, we're members of Future Foundation branch 16 and we were classmates with the accused." Shuichi replied. "I wanted to be present for the hearing." 

"I don't know who told you we were meeting, or who gave you clearance to come here bu-" Munakata was cut off when Yukizome spoke up. 

"I'm sorry, Munakata, I figured his former classmates had a right to know, and they had wanted to go so badly, I couldn't say no." She said. "I'm glad you could make it, Shuichi."

Munakata was silent for a moment before sighing reluctantly “Very well. It’s too late to send you out anyway, I suppose. In any case we need to continue.” He turned to face the projector screen behind him as he continued "Kokichi Oma, no accounts can verify what you were up to before the Tragedy began, but there were large periods of time where no one would hear from you during the school year. Upon your return you would give outlandish reports of what you had supposedly been doing but failed to verify any of them. Many of your teachers would report concerns that you didn't hang out with your peers as much as other students. Hope's Peak does not just admit any student; each person is scouted and must have a verifiable talent, yet yours was a special case. Our scouts confirmed that they saw your talent in action many times, rallying random groups of people together on several occasions for no apparent reason, yet they never seemed to be able to confirm- or deny- your claims of 'a secret evil organization with over 10,000 members.' Accounts do seem to indicate you led an  organization of some sort, but there are no confirmed details of the number of members or their identities, and no evidence exists that can confirm what this organization did."

Munakata paused as if to let this sink in. "However, we have reason to suspect the organization you led is tied to the remnants of despair. We suspect that before the Tragedy, while Junko  Enoshima rallied together Ultimates and worked on brainwashing the reserve course, you were rallying normal people outside of school confines. The exact reach you had remains unknown, but it very well could have been worldwide. It is not impossible for an ultimate with your ability. This would allow despair to take over much more easily and we believe your influence was used as a catalyst to spread the tragedy worldwide. Because of your status as a remnant of despair, you refused to join the future foundation. After Junko's reported death in the killing game, we suspect you continued to gather members for your cause in order to cause a resurgence of despair and turn the tides in your favor. " 

“Wooow! You guys really did your homework! I guess I didn’t cover my tracks good enough.” Kokichi interjected, pouting.

“You think this is a joke, kid?!” Sakakura yelled spinning Kokichi around to face him and picking him up by the collar of his jacket. He dangled more than a foot above the floor.

“H-hey! There’s no need for that!” Shuichi shouted.

Kokichi ignored him in favor of pushing more of Sakakura’s buttons “Oh? Is the big bad security mad they couldn’t handle the threat of two highschoolers? You let this happen you know.”

“Shut up, punk!” Sakakura was livid. Still holding Kokichi a few feet off the ground he punched him in the gut with what felt like the force of truck before dropping him to the ground.

Kokichi hacked up blood as he gasped for air but he was only given a moment’s respite before he felt Sakakura’s fury in full force.

“Get up!” Sakakura all but screeched before lifting Kokichi up by the neck as if he were nothing more than a ragdoll. Slowly he began putting on more pressure; he'd easily admit he couldn’t help but enjoy seeing the little fucker squirm.

"Stop! You won't be able to get any testimony out of him like that!" Shuichi begged, trying to get him to listen to reason.

"H-hey calm down, man! You're seriously gonna kill him at this rate!" Kokichi was dimly aware that Kaito had spoken up, which took him by surprise. He'd have thought at least Kaito would be happy to see him pay. However, a split second later Kaito let out a startled yelp. "WOAH! What the heck, man?!" A kunai had dug into the wall a couple inches from where had been standing.

"If you yell again, I'll have Yoi kill you." Ruruka said coldly.

"Enough, Sakakura." Sakakura snapped out of it when he felt Gozu's hand on his shoulder. "Whether he's our ally or not, I don’t see the point in being so violent with someone who can't defend themselves."

"Get your hand off me." Sakakura spat out, but at the very least stopped applying pressure.

"If you continue this course of action," Gozu tensed, anticipating a fight "Then I, Great Gozu, will be your opponent!"

"That's enough." Munakata cut in over their standoff. "Sakakura, release him."

At Munakata's word, Sakakura dropped him and he fell unceremoniously in a heap on the ground. Black dots swam over his vision as he gasped for air, clutching his stomach in pain. Perhaps pissing off the former Ultimate Boxer hadn't been the best idea. As his vision cleared, however, he was surprised to see the very classmates he had spurned leaning over him in concern.

"At any rate, he's right. We won't be able to get any testimony out of him in this condition. There'll be a short recess, but afterwards I intend to get testimony out of you about your involvement with Junko Enoshima and the remnants of Despair. Have the guards come get him." Munakata ordered.

Kokichi didn’t have the energy to argue as two guards grabbed him by the arms and dragged him off.

* * *

“Man that guy is in deep shit, huh Shuichi?” Kaito asked as Shuichi took the opportunity to freshen up a bit.

“Yea… He never did know when to stop.” Was the belated response.

“Hey… do you… do you really think he’s still innocent Shuichi?” Kaito asked hesitantly.

“I think we don’t have all the facts.” He finally replied. “As a detective, I can’t accept their conclusions as fact without knowing the whole story, which Kokichi doesn’t seem intent on sharing.” He paused, unsure, before deciding to continue. “But as his classmate… I just don’t believe he’d do it. Even if we didn’t know him that well, he wasn’t a cruel person. Annoying, yes, but a killer? I’ve seen the look of a killer, Kaito, I don’t think anyone could hide it that well.” Shuichi brought down his cap reflexively as he said this.

“Yea… you’re probably right, bro. Sorry for doubting ya. I didn’t like how they were handling him either.”

Shuichi gave a small smile at that. “It’s alright, Kaito. I know you would never stand for unnecessary violence, and even if he is guilty I don’t think you’d want to see him executed.”

“Well yea, I don’t think anyone deserves execution. If you believe in someone and they betray you, it’s your fault for believing in ‘em! That’s why all you can do is believe who you wanna believe.”

Shuichi chuckled “Well, I’d like to think there’s some merit to a good investigation and evidence, but your heart’s in the right place, Kaito. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

“Dude, Shuichi, cut it out you’re making me blush. Don’t go getting all sappy on me just yet. This isn’t over.”

“Yea, of course. You’re right. I’m gonna head back.” Shuichi said, a hint of a smile still lingering on his lips, and headed for the door.

“Alright, I’ll catch up with you in a bit, bro!” Kaito replied as Shuichi headed out.

* * *

Kokichi was pointedly readjusting his scarf to cover where his neck was beginning to form a bruise when he heard the door to the meeting room he was being held in open. In walked the woman who Munakata was clearly in love with, seeing as she had gotten away with inviting his classmates to a top-secret meeting on a remote island. He still hadnt put a name to the face.  

She remedied that quickly by introducing herself. "Hi! I don’t think we've met before, but I'm the former Ultimate Housekeeper, Chisa Yukizome." She said, taking out a first aid kit. Huh. So there  _was_  someone besides Kirumi with a talent so lame.  

"Haha, that’s a pretty lame talent! What'd you do to get scouted for Hope's Peak with such a useless talent?"  

"Ah, well I won't argue that it's pretty useless. No one needs a housekeeper nowadays..." 

Kokichi didn't fully buy that, thinking back to Kirumi and her talent throughout school, he couldn't imagine that Yukizome had been doing nothing of importance this whole time, and that was before you considered the fact that she was a Future Foundation leader. 

As she approached him with supplies in her hand he involuntarily flinched. He tried to cover it up by saying "What are you doing with that? A supreme leader of evil like me doesn't need help from a no name housekeeper like you." 

She didn't buy it. "Well even if you act that way, for what it's worth, I don’t think you're a remnant of despair." She said and began to apply aid anyway, despite his protest.  

Kokichi was silent for a moment, a blank expression on his face. How could people so easily put blind faith into people they had just met? Why did people  _trust_  so easily? No one deserves blind trust. Blind trust has never saved anyone. It killed millions when the 78th class of Hope's Peak trusted everyone around them and allowed a mastermind to infect the world with despair. 

He didn't want blind trust. He'd rather be hated then have someone be so weak with him.  

His tone was airy but there was no hiding the way his face darkened as he said "Hmm, so you trust me huh? But ya know, such blind trust in people might get you killed one day. I'm not the only liar in the world, even if I  _am_  the best." 

In a way, it was ironic that even he didn't notice it had already killed her once. 

* * *

 When Shuichi got into the hallway, he was surprised to see an unfamiliar face roaming the halls.

“Um hello, are you lost?” He asked startling the boy a little.

“Oh! Um no, I’m Ryota Mitarai, I’m from Branch 10 of the Future Foundation. I’m here for the meeting with Chairman Tengan. It looks like I was late though…” the boy said, looking weary.

“You didn’t miss it entirely, if you're worried about that. They’re having a recess right now. I can lead you to the room if you want?” Shuichi suggested.

“Y-yes, thank you.” Mitarai turned to follow him.

Suddenly, the building shook sending them both off balance.

"Wh-what's going on?" Mitarai asked as the emergency lights started flashing above him.

"I don't know, but we need to meet with everyone else and make sure they're okay!" Shuichi said, urging Mitarai to follow him. 

* * *

Kiibo had been getting a bit restless at his lack of information when he heard the unexpected whirring of a nearby chopper. As he looked up to find the source, there was a rumbling as the helicopter shot a missile at the building. 

Kiibo ducked down and looked on in dismay as the missiles made contact with the building, completely obscuring the entrance with rubble. 

“Oh no! The entrance!” he cried surging forward, but he was already too late. There was a panicked buzz as the few remaining future foundation agents who had stayed with him on the rooftop flit about trying to figure out what was going on and what to do. Without access to the ones in command they were more akin to chickens with their heads cut off than agents of a powerful global organization.  

Not a moment after chaos had erupted was another rumbling heard as a second missile was fired. Several future foundation men dived out of the way as the only remaining helicopter had been blown up. 

Kiibo knew well and good that as a robot he did not always feel the same emotions as his human classmates but he was certain right now the emotion he was feeling overwhelm him like a tidal wave was dread. His friends were trapped in this building and he had no way of reaching them. When he first began working for the Future Foundation he had deciding to have all his cellphone capabilities installed into him to make it easier to contact his classmates and coworkers at any given time. Right now, as if to confirm his sense of dread, he had no service, and couldn’t establish a connection with Kaito or Shuichi. With no way off the island, and no way to contact the ones trapped inside, what help was he? 

In a last-ditch effort, he tried going as far out as possible and calling the one person who'd take his calls any time of the day. 

To his surprise, he managed to actually to get through, but he could tell it was only just barely. 

"Keebler! What's this? Are you lonely? Need some special "maintenance" wink wink?" He could barely hear her over the crackle, but there was no mistaking the brash voice of Miu Iruma. 

He could only pray Miu would catch the important parts as he spoke frantically. "Miu, now isn't the time! I need your help; our friends and the future foundation leaders could be in danger!" 

"H-huh? W-what?!" Her voice grew meek but he was relieved to have caught her attention. 

"I don't have too much time to explain, but you need to send help! The building where they were having Kokichi's hearing has been shot at! All the entrances have been blocked, and I don’t know what's going on inside!" He hoped she could make heads or tails of what must have been a staticky reply. 

"Wait, why did you go to that Kokichi fucker's hearing anyway? He never appreciated what a gorgeous hunk of machine you are."  

"MIU! That isn't what's important right now! Shuichi and Kaito are trapped in that building too! I need you to send help! You're the only one I can rely on! I'm counting on you." 

"Hiiiii! Okay, okay I get it! Don't shout at me! But listen, Keebler, I don’t have much clearance, so it's gonna take a lot for me to convince these Future Foundation assholes to listen. So please, in the meantime... stay safe, okay?"  

Despite everything, Kiibo smiled. "Of course, Miu. Thank you." 

He was glad to have been of some use but he wasn't going to sit around and wait for his friends to be rescued. With that, he turned to the pile of rubble blocking his entrance and began brainstorming a way he could help. 

* * *

"Bandai, any updates?" Munakata asked.

Bandai pulled up several screens on the board in the front of the room. "All the entrances and exits have been blocked off! The front entrance, the elevators, even the fire shutters!"

"How are we under attack? I thought no one knew about this place!" Ruruka spoke with annoyance.

"Did someone alert the enemy?" Seiko asked, only increasing the tension in the room.

"What's going on?!" Yukizome asked to the room at large as she led Kokichi back into the meeting room.

"We're under attack." Munakata replied curtly.

Sakakura glared at Kokichi “You did this didn’t you?! You little punk!”

Kokichi was wearing his signature mischevious grin “That’s right! I told my comrades aaaaall about this place. They’ve got this place surrounded. Any minute now they’ll be here to get me. After all, they wouldn’t leave their fearless leader behind.”

"What?! Why you-" Sakakura lunged for him but was cut off by Munakata.

“We don’t have time for this, Sakakura hold him down. No one leaves this room. We’re contacting security.”

Just then the entrance opened again and a panicked Kaito followed by Shuichi and Mitarai came in.

“Guys we’ve got an issue here! The guards are dead!” as Kaito said this Yukizome chimed in to confirm. “We can’t get through to security or headquarters!”

“Ah, um, Chairman Tengan, sorry I’m late.” Mitarai said so quietly Tengan almost didn’t hear him.

“Mitarai? You’re here?” Tengan hadn’t expected him to show up.

"Everyone, calm down." Gozu spoke up grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. "We're all leaders and we have a bunch of Ultimates on our side, whatever enemy we face doesn't stand a chanc-" Gozu cut himself off as a small white and black ball appeared at his feet. "What?"

Suddenly, the room filled with smoke causing everyone to go into coughing fits. "Sleeping gas?!" Seiko managed to say in between coughs. "And it's the super strong kind-!"

Kokichi watched it all unfold with a muted kind of interest, and he could just barely make out Munakata reaching out for Yukizome through the haze as they all went crashing to the ground. Vaguely, he wondered if he had been more right than he had imagined before sleep took him too.

* * *

As they all got up one by one, everything seemed to be the same, but Kokichi noticed a weight on his wrist that hadn't been there before. Looking down at it, he found a black and white bangle of some kind with... a time limit?

"Upupupu..." A snarky cartoonish voice laughed coming from seemingly everywhere. It was a voice that didn’t belong here, didn't belong outside of the Hope's Peak Academy Killing Game. Suddenly the board at the front lit up and the mascot of the Tragedy was before them.

"If it happened twice, it'll happen a third time! Did ya miss me?" Monokuma singsonged.

"Wait, a minute this doesn't add up! Junko Enoshima is dead!" This time it was Kaito who spoke up.

Shuichi shaded his eyes with his hat, a grave expression on his face as he asked "Who's controlling you? Not just anyone could set this up..."

Monokuma ignored their outbursts "Anywaaay! I had wanted to make this a final battle between hope and despair, and go back to my roots, but someone didn't show up this time and I'm on a tight schedule, what with you future foundation bozos exterminating us remnants so quickly. So as a form of thanks you're all being forced to play this killing game!"

Everyone in the room let out a collective gasp.

"WHAT?! We'd never kill each other, there's a whole bunch of future foundation leaders in this room!" Kaito yelled at the screen.  
  
Before Kaito could continue, Munakata broke in, a sense of urgency to his voice that demanded attention."Where's Yukizome?" After a pause he spoke again, louder this time "Where is she?!"

In the following silence after that question their attention was drawn to a dripping sound, a small puddle of blood on the table. Tracing the source of the blood to the ceiling revealed none other than Chisa Yukizome.

Or what was the lifeless shell of what had once been her anyway.

It was almost serene, the way her body hung limply from the chandelier almost as if putting her there was an afterthought, a decoration piece added at the very end.

"Oh but 'We'd never kill each other!' you say, or 'There's no way we'd turn against each other!" Monokuma droned on. "But I kinda forgot to mention, the game has already started!"

With a snapping of the chain, the chandelier came crashing down, and Kokichi almost convinced himself she looked graceful as she fell.

The whole room fell silent, a pained look finding it's way onto Munakata's face.

“Kokichi Oma. If you’re really who you say you are, you should know…” Munakata broke the silence in a dangerous voice “You will _not_ escape this alive.”

* * *

As Gozu and Sakakura began removing Yukizome’s corpse from the chandelier, Monokuma continued his explanation of the Killing Game.

Little pixel caricatures of themselves appeared on screen to illustrate the rules as he spoke. “Rule #1: The time limit. After a set amount of time everyone will be injected with sleeping drugs. At that time Rule #2 comes into play!

What’s Rule #2 you ask? Rule #2 is the Attacker! Once everyone has fallen asleep the Attacker is woken up and given a time limit to kill someone. If no one dies within that time limit you win the game! But if someone dies the game will continue. Well, you could just pick the most suspicious person and off them first?”

“But be careful! You have to be wary of Rule #3: Forbidden Actions. If you look on your bangles, you’ll see each person has their own forbidden action. If your forbidden action is performed, a deadly poison will be administered.” To illustrate his point, Monokuma showed that his forbidden action was laughing out loud, then proceeded to laugh and was subsequently poisoned before exploding.

“So be careful of your forbidden actions and find the attacker!”

"Oh! And by the way, this is being broadcasted worldwide so the whole world can see what idio- I mean what amazing and talented leaders you are."

Kokichi wasn't stupid, he knew that he couldn't risk accidentally setting off his forbidden action, so he took a deep breath and made to check his action.

Time seemed to stop, and the world froze. He let out the breath he had been holding in a harsh gasp as his blood turned to ice.

The words that were being reflected at him were "Answering a question with a lie."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing an alternate universe this far outside from canon, but I really tried hard to keep everyone as in character and realistic as possible. I’ve never done a multichapter fic before, and it’s only, like, my 4th fic ever so feedback is super appreciated. 
> 
> That being said I'm really sorry I have no idea how updates will go, I kinda wanted to release this when I had more than one chapter done but I didn’t want to write further with zero feedback. 
> 
> I am basing this off of the events of the dr3 anime so inevitably there will be a lot more overlap. I still don’t know how much involvement I want the sdr2 cast to have (and whether or not I should have the rest of the drv3 cast replace them entirely) like in the dr3 anime, so if anyone has any thoughts on that please let me know, because dear lord do I need help. I hate asking the readers to do my work for me but I don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of and I'm a pretty mediocre writer on my own.
> 
> Meanwhile in a parallel universe:
> 
> Saihara took a sharp intake of breath as he looked at his forbidden action.  
> Oh no-  
> Oh fuck no-  
> At this rate he had all of 2 minutes at best to live. His mind went into overdrive, panicking at the notion.  
> He snapped his head back up and locked eyes on the back of Ouma’s head. He moved without thinking-he wasn’t going to die today- and before anyone could say anything he had firmly clamped his hand over Ouma’s mouth.  
> Ouma jerked back in surprise and let out a muffled “Saihara-chan?!” but Saihara refused to loosen his grip.  
> He said simply “Ouma I need you to shut the fuck up and not say anything for the rest of the game. In fact, we may need to gag him.”  
> “Wait, what? Why?” someone asked, stunned.  
> “Because I’m not going to die because this little shit couldn’t keep his mouth shut.” He said, revealing his forbidden action to everyone.  
> “Kokichi Ouma telling a lie”  
> “Ok, yea fair enough.”  
> And with that Ouma was gagged for the rest of the game.


	2. Episode 2: An Unlikely Duo Forms!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years! (Man over a month for just under 5k words? what a rip-off amirite?)
> 
> First off, I want to thank everyone for the feedback, it's probably the difference between me continuing this at all because I can barely stand to read the stuff I've written without cringing, I don’t know why I just find reading it again embarrassing, which made continuing where I left off kinda difficult.
> 
> ALSO! Guess who found more "drv3 characters with ng codes" fics? Meeee. I feel the need to plug them because they're really good and I can't be the only one who wants to see the ng codes used more. So im just gonna leave these links here:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/11947674  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/12315354
> 
> Alternative title for this chapter is "I have no idea how to write a story please help"
> 
> I'm sorry to break it to anyone who might've expected better writing then the DR3 anime but this is wholly a learning experience for me. I cannot stress enough how bad I am at plot and character building, and I'm really trying hard not to freak out over the inevitable disappointment of certain character motives and choices. I'm doing my best to plan things out but a lot of it just comes into my head and then suddenly there's a whole scene worth of dialog that wasn’t there before. It's very inefficient to say the least. But despite that I am having fun writing it! I hope you guys enjoy reading it, because I was kinda only writing this for myself initially. So uhhh, please don’t expect a better version of the dr3 anime IM SORRY I just wanted to mess around with ng codes and some of my favs. 
> 
> I mean, do tell me what you dislike in the comments if it ends up being bad- like if you feel I didn’t develop someone or something well enough, or if you think a plot point or code was stupid- cause I do need to know what to improve. I guess I'm just asking people not to go in with high hopes? I DONT KNOW HOW TO STORY OK, please dont cringe too hard
> 
> (Also I'll try my best to make the chapter notes shorter from here on out.)

Kokichi snapped out of his daze as furious typing could be heard throughout the room. A girl who had been silent this whole time came forward and from the screen on her wheelchair... a pink rabbit appeared? "Who's controlling you?!" The rabbit asked.

"Huh? Who the heck are you? I've never seen you before." Monokuma replied, ignoring the question. "Let me change you into someone more recognizable." A scuffle could be heard and seen as the rabbit on the girl's screen was obscured from vision. "I'm being hacked?! But from where?!" It said. Moments later, Monokuma reappeared having transformed the rabbit into something that somewhat resembled him and looked much more unreliable.

"Anyway, good luck! The future is on the line!" Monokuma said waving, before the screen glitched out leaving the room in silence.

Sakakura was done playing games. "Enough screwing around! Just admit it, you're the one who set this up aren’t you?” Sakakura said angrily glaring at Kokichi. “It could only have been you!”

"W-wait just a minute! This is the first time he's ever been in this building and this location is top secret! There's no way this could be his doing!" Shuichi reasoned.

"As much as I'd love to take credit for this, he's right ya know. I wish I could say this is my doing, but it's not." Kokichi said, sounding disappointed.

"Like hell we're gonna believe that! You just said earlier this was all your doing!"

Kokichi brought a finger to his lips as he spoke, a sly grin on his face. "Oh, but didn't you notice? That was a lie. I'm the ultimate supreme leader, ya know? So basically a dictator. No one would try to rescue a dictator, they're probably glad to be rid of me." His expression morphed into one of childish glee, face lighting up in an instant. "But wooow! My first killing game! How exciting! I didn’t think I'd get to be a part of one."

“Why you-!” Sakakura went at Kokichi again, fists balled. Thankfully Kokichi wasn't handcuffed this time; those had been removed when they were asleep. He managed to dogde at the last second before Gozu intercepted Sakakura. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think you need to calm down, after all, we still don’t have any proof.”

“Proof? You guys don’t need proof when I’m right here in the flesh!” Kokichi decided it was time to test a theory of his. “Of course I’m a remnant, why else would someone like me act so suspicious?” He was relieved when there was no reaction from his bracelet. So he _could_ still lie, just not when answering a question. He could work with this. “Oh, but maybe I’m lying! I’m not actually a remnant.”

Munakata spoke up, interrupting the growing tension yet again.  “As if we needed more proof you’re a remnant of despair. I refuse to wait for you to take more victims.” There was a dangerous gleam in his eye, as he took out what looked to be a pocket knife.

“There’s no need to be hasty! The eager dog misplaces his bone.” Bandai tried to calm the room at large with his usual nonsense.

“Come now, Munakata, you’re being a bit rash, don’t you think?” Tengan queried.

Before he could give an answer, Ruruka spoke up. “Well I think he’s got the right idea! We can’t trust this little creep as far as we can throw him.”

The room descended into chaos again, multiple people at once trying to speak their minds, some of them advancing on Kokichi. He began backing away instinctively, perhaps now was the time to make a strategic retreat-

Kokichi couldn't mask his surprise when he felt a strong hand latch onto his wrist and all but drag him out the room. "Come on! We need to go, dammit!" He heard Kaito yell as he turned to face the door and they ran out, Kokichi slamming the door shut behind them, in hopes of slowing their pursuers down and just in time for another one of Izayoi's kunai to embed itself in the door.

Once they were down a side hall, a safe distance away from the sound of thudding footsteps, they stopped to catch their breaths. Kokichi broke the silence first.

"My, how bold Kaito! Dragging me out the room like that! What about Shuichi? I thought _he_ was your sidekick. Nee-heehee, are you perhaps making a move on me?"

"What? Cut it out, Kokichi. It's cause we couldn't stick around much longer without getting into trouble."

The phrasing wasn't lost on him. "Hmm? Who's this "we" you speak of?" Another one of his playful smirks appeared on his face "Does this have something to do with your forbidden action?"

"Figured me out already, huh... Yea it's got something to do with my forbidden action." Kaito grumbled, lifting his wrist so the words on the wrist band were visible "Being more than 100 feet away from Kokichi Oma." So forbidden actions could be linked to other people. That made things a lot more interesting. That also made this a lot more difficult. Under no circumstances did Kokichi want to be a factor in someone else's death, if he could avoid it.

"Ugggh! Does that mean I'm stuck with boring old Kaito as a partner? Boo!" Kokichi said with a pout.

"Hey, this isn't preferable for me either! But whether we like it or not you and me are partners for the rest of this game."

"Of all the people to be attached too..." Kokichi couldn't help but mumble, clearly discontent with the situation.

"What was that?! If you've got an issue with me be a man about it and speak up already!" Kaito said, the irritation just as clear on his face.

Kokichi groaned internally, great, another question he thought. This was going to be a long day. "I said 'Of all the people to be attached too!' You're the worst Kaito!" As if summoned, large tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "You're so loud and mean! I bet you only came because Shuichi dragged you here!" Suddenly a more panicked look crossed his face and he made a dramatic gasping noise. “Or maybe you just wanted to see me get sentenced to death!” The tears came back in full force. “WAAAAH! You’re so _mean_ , Kaito!” he said, in between sniffles.

Kaito wasn't fooled. "Hey drop the act, Kokichi! I know you aren't really upset."

In an instant he was back to normal, beaming mischievously "Aww, you got me. I guess I can't fool Kaito with my old tricks anymore."

But Kaito surprised him by turning serious all of a sudden. "Hey... you know none of us wanted you gone right? Sure, you were a pain in the ass in school but we didn't expect you to go off on your own like that. Maybe it's our fault for letting you disappear, but everyone was kinda worried when we never heard from you, you know? Shuichi's my sidekick, yea, but I made the decision to come here too."

As if prompted by Kaito's response Kokichi's face went blank as well, lips pressed into a thin line. "I don’t believe you. You're a pretty bad liar, Kaito." He said so quietly Kaito almost didn't hear. Kokichi couldn't believe for a second those people who hardly knew him had been worried. Maybe some of them were a little concerned that they couldn't keep track of his movements, but he was certain most of them must've been secretly happy such a troublesome person was gone. Before Kaito could argue with him about it, though, he continued with a question of his own "Why do you always do that?" He was avoiding Kaito's eyes, instead choosing to focus on his thumb as he bit his nail.

"Huh? Do what?" It was Kaito's turn to be confused.

"That. You always try to comfort people, even when they never ask for it." _Even if it's just a lie_ he didn’t mention. "Why do you trust people so much, even after the world has ended?"

Kaito threw a hand onto his head "Heh, I don’t expect someone like you to get it, but you can't fault others for betraying you. It just means you had poor judgement!" Kaito punctuated his statement by raising his fist. "I believe who I wanna believe. To be honest, I'm still kind of wary of you. You make it pretty damn difficult to believe in you, but I believe in Shuichi, so if he chooses to believe you then I do too. My sidekick's mistakes are my mistakes, after all, so if it ends up biting me in the ass I only have myself to blame." Kokichi had never seen Kaito so passionate before. "So if you don't understand that, then I'll make you understand it! I'm gonna figure you out by the end of this, just you wait!"

Kokichi sincerely doubted he and Kaito would ever be on the same wavelength, but the grin on his face this time wasn’t entirely fabricated. "Ha! I'd like to see you try, Kaito!" He decided he'd let one drop of honesty trickle through before he brought his defenses back up. "You know, you're pretty interesting sometimes, Kaito. But you ask waaaay too many questions, I'd be more careful about what you ask people."

"Geez, you're such a pain. Enough with your cryptic nonsense, let's get moving."

"Ehhh?" Kokichi said as he tilted his head. "Where are we going?"

"Obviously we're gonna put an end to this!... Somehow. We need to get a better bearing of the building first though." 

"Put an end to this? But it just started! Things are just starting to get interesting!

Kaito ignored Kokichi's outburst entirely "Yup! I might not have my normal sidekick with me but you and me are gonna put an end to this, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming, because I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!"

"As stubborn as ever I see..." Kokichi said as Kaito began dragging them off down the hall to continue exploring. But he had a point. It couldn't hurt to get a feel for the area. He hadn't seen much of the building since he had gotten here, which put him at a disadvantage that he needed to correct as quickly as possible. Nevermind dealing with the others, they could wait.

* * *

To say Shuichi was startled when Kaito fled the room, Kokichi in tow, would be an understatement. He was outright shocked at Kaito's sudden charge of action. He didn’t expect Kaito would go this far, even after Kaito had chosen to trust his judgement. Maybe the killing game had strengthened Kaito's resolve to extract the truth from their former classmate? He couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling the killing game had something to do with the formation of the unlikely pair.

Munakata and Sakakura had exited the room only seconds after, in pursuit of his fleeing classmates and Shuichi could only hope they managed to get away. He knew they could handle themselves but he still worried. He decided to trust that they’d do their best to stay alive. He hoped he’d get to meet up with them later, but right now, he had to conduct his own investigation. Nothing was adding up here, not the trial or this killing game, and he was determined to get to the bottom of both.

Izayoi, who had thrown another kunai at them, stopped his attack the moment they left the room, apparently convinced by Ruruka to let Munakata and Sakakura deal with them.

“Come on, Yoi. Let’s get out of here.” She said loudly. “Everyone here is too suspicious.” With that the two left the room. Kimura surveyed the room at large for a moment before deciding to head out after them.

The room was silent for a while before someone else decided to speak up.“I don’t want to stand here and be useless. I am going to look for a way out, if anyone wants to join me.” Gozu offered to the room at large.

“Yea! The lazy squirrel always forgets where his nuts are hidden.” Bandai chirped.

“That’s right we can’t lose hope!” The pink rabbit on Gekkogahara’s screen waved it’s paws around for emphasis.

Their numbers thinned again as yet another group of people left the room.

“This is quite the mess, huh?” Kizakura spoke up for the first time in a awhile. “Well, what’s the plan now, Tengan?”

“You’re right. I suppose I can’t let those two try to get justice on their own.” Ah, so he was referring to Munakata and Sakakura it seemed. “I think I’ll be heading out as well.” He turned to Mitarai. “Mitarai, will you be alright here by yourself?”

The other boy startled at suddenly being called out. “H-huh? Me? Um I… I, uh, I think I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I’m just concerned because I don’t think you can defend yourself, can you?” If Shuichi didn’t know any better, he would think that Tengan was saying it mockingly; he could’ve sworn there was a slight smirk on Tengan’s face.

“That’s um- Well I-“

“Don’t worry about it, Tengan.” Kizakura said, adjusting the hat on his head. Instinctively, Shuichi reached for the hat on his head as well, as he had been watching the conversation unfold. “I’ll keep an eye on him. You just go do what you have to do.”

“Right. I leave it to you then, Kizakura.” With that settled he made his way towards the door and left, the room falling in an uneasy silence again as he left.

It was only Shuichi, Kizakura, and Mitarai left, but Shuichi didn’t really care. He had to investigate this room closer before he could move on. As he walked over to Yukizome’s corpse he found himself joined by Kizakura and an uneasy Mitarai.

“So, Shuichi Saihara was it? You’re a detective aren’t you?” Shuichi was startled by Kizakura’s sudden question.

“Yes I am, but how did you…?”

“I know that cold calculating gaze anywhere. You don’t look the part, but I’ve seen a detective in action. Ah, but really I was one of the scouts at Hope’s Peak. I remember seeing your profile.”

“Oh so that’s how…” It unnerved Shuichi how carefree this guy seemed to be and that he was making jokes at a time like this, but he didn’t question it and continued his investigation. Something was… off. Monokuma had said there was an attacker, but there were no signs of a struggle on Yukizome’s body. Maybe she was still asleep when they killed her? But could you _really_ stay asleep while  being killed in such a fashion? It didn’t seem possible.

And why _had_ the attacker chosen to kill her and leave her in such a fashion? The point would’ve came across just as easily if she had been left dead on the table after all.

“A detective always come back to the scene of the crime, huh?” Shuichi had been trying to ignore it, but Kizakura had been silently observing him the whole time he worked.

“Do you perhaps have some business with me, Mr.Kizakura.?”

“Don’t be that way, I know I was a teacher and all, but you can drop the “Mister.” I’m not your enemy. Detectives always know what to do in situations like this, right? Then I think our best bet is to hang out with you.” As he said this he motioned to himself and Mitarai, who had been quietly attempting to fiddle with his phone, clearly anxious.

“Right…” Not like anything could get much weirder, Shuichi figured, and he decided he should continue to investigate the room in hopes of finding some clues to the mastermind’s identity and the hidden truths inside this killing game. 

If he was lucky all this would end without much more conflict, but he wasn’t betting on it. Why else would _that_ be his forbidden action, if there wasn’t something more sinister going on?

* * *

Miu had a job to do, but she was having a hard time getting anyone to talk to her- and subsequently listen to her- about the current status of the hearing. Everything was abuzz and the office was a frenzy of energy as members franctically flitted about following unknown orders. Anyone she tried to talk to was either too busy or were ordered not to disclose any information.  

She was running out of people to talk to, the only other person around of note was the vice leader of the 14th division- and he was an asshole. That wouldn’t stop her of course, she’d do anything for Kiibo, and as much as she wouldn’t admit it, she had grown fond of Shyhara and that space idiot.

Speaking of, here came his not-girlfriend-who-was-obviously-in-love-with-him now. “Miu, do you have any idea where Shuichi and Kaito are? I haven’t seen them all day.”

This shocked Miu, I mean how could the assassin of all people not know? “You mean you don’t know?” she asked.

“…Don’t know what?” Maki did her best to keep her emotions neutral constantly but Miu felt like she had struck a nerve nonetheless.

“Well, uhhh, you didn’t here it from me, but…” Miu recounted what Kiibo had told her to Maki, informing her that all three of them had went to the hearing.

“Those idiots… Why would they put themselves at risk like that!” Even Miu could read the anger on her face. Maki made up her mind. “I’m going after them.”

“Huh?! B-but you’ll get in trouble! You might get _me_ in trouble too!”

Maki silenced any further protests with a glare. “Hii! Okay, okay just d-don’t glare at me like that.”

“I swear if anything happened to them because of that asshole…” Muttering those ominous words, Maki walked off.

Right, well Miu still had to talk to that guy, if anyone had an idea what was going on, it was likely him.  

* * *

It hadn't been more than an hour since his phone call with Miu and already Kiibo was antsy. His attempts to help clear the rubble had been largely unsuccessful and it was taking far longer than he would've liked.

He knew he could trust Miu, but he hated the idea of sitting around being useless…

Wait a minute… How was he supposed to get the call back from Miu? He had barely been able to place the call in the first place.

 _I need to make sure I can send and receive phone calls_ became his sole thought and goal, but how to accomplish it? He had needed to go to the very edge of the building to establish the call earlier, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

In a last ditch effort, he began going over the list of things he was equipped with in his head.

If you had asked Kiibo during his school years if he was equipped with any fancy sci-fi tech he would’ve made a remark on how “That’s robophobic!” He had wanted nothing more than to fit in with the others and be a normal highschool student. But things were vastly different now and he didn’t have time for such silly delusions. In truth, his status as a robot made him a little happy now, as he was significantly more useful as a future foundation agent that way. They had begun modifying him as soon as he was properly trained.

That being said, his class were still mostly rookies, and he didn’t have many privileges yet. The foundation had refrained from decking him out until he could prove he could handle it, and he was still very much in the process of doing so.

So still no rocket punches. Or jetpacks. Or lasers. But surely he had some modification that could help them in this situation? Sure, his hand could turn into a powerful drill now, on top of the tools installed by his original creator, Idibashi, but the building was already entirely too unstable to attempt entrance that way. The process of clearing the rubble was going tremenduously slow because of this; one wrong move and a whole section of the building might collapse on them, or worse, the occupants inside. Maybe he could use his… well no, there was no point to that, it was too power intensive and he could see no merit of using that function here, it wouldn’t help them access the people inside.

His main modifications- and subsequently his main roles on missions- were actually centered around communication- so the fact that he had barely placed his call earlier was extremely unnerving. It must have something to do with the combination of the damage from the missiles and remote location. But that shouldn’t be the case, should it? Kiibo was equipped with the most powerful receivers the Future Foundation could spare so he could receive and transmit calls better than the average cellphone. All his calls were placed through his head, his ahoge acting as the receiver, because it was easier and more convenient than a phone. The signal here being so weak was a bad sign. Maybe… maybe his reception was being purposely blocked? If that were the case, this was more serious than he thought… For now it was as good a lead as any, so he’d proceed with that in mind.

If that’s the case, then maybe if he got to a higher place he would be out of range of whatever was blocking the signals? But they were already so high up…

Ah! How could he have forgotten? During his early stages of training the Future Foundation had outfitted him with extending legs, in order to reach tall places or out of reach objects. It was considered a relatively harmless- and at the time Kiibo considered it a relatively useless- modification. Now it could be his only chance at helping his friends. He had to try.

Kiibo was a little nervous because he hadn’t really activated the modification since it had been installed- it had a very specific use mind you and he didn’t find the need for that use often- and it hadn’t been oiled for awhile. What if his legs froze up and he got stuck, or what if he tripped?

Well he _had_ said he’d do _anything_ , and he wasn’t about to turn back now. Activating his extending function, he got some looks from some of the agents nearby. He decided his best bet would be to scale the building the rest of the way to the top, so once he was a comfortable distance up and had found proper hand holds he climbed the rest of the way up, being mindful of the condition of the building, till he found a ledge suitable for observing the progress down below and making calls. If the building were to collapse right now he’d go down with it, but he couldn’t think about that now.

He figures it was a good call when not even five minutes later he gets the return call from Miu.

He picks up immediately. “Miu! Can you hear me? What’s the situation on your end? Have you made any progess?!”

“Woah! Slow down Kiibo, you’ll overheat your processors the way you’re going.”

“You’re right. My apologies, but how are things on your end?”

“Ugh, it was a nightmare trying to get these Future Foundation fucks to talk, Keebs. I had to talk to that Togami asshole before I could get a straight answer. Turns out they’re aware of the situation but they’re keeping everything under wraps because no one was supposed to know all the leaders of the Future Foundation were in one building. They said they were sending backup, but it looks like there’s not much we can do here on our end.”

Kiibo’s heart sank, was there really nothing else they could do?

“I just wish I could make contact with the people inside…”

“Wait a minute, Keebs, you might be onto something! One of the leaders there, Miaya Gekkogahara, she does a lot of work in the technology division too! She’s the one who helped deck you out with your communication equipment, remember?”

“M-ms. Gekkogahara is here?!”

“Yea! I remember she was really good with computers, so much so she only talked using her little laptop. Hard to believe she was a therapist, huh?”

“But how does that help us, Miu?”

“Cmon, Keebler, I know you’re smarter than that. It means we can try and establish contact with the people on the inside through her laptop!”

“Really?! You think we can do that?!”

“Yea! It’s gonna be a challenge for me to connect you two remotely, but nothing’s too hard for the gorgeous girl genius, Miu Iruma! Plus you’re outfitted with top of the line Future Foundation receivers so this should be a breeze. You know you’re video communication compatible, right?”

“O-oh I am?” Kiibo flushed at this, a bit embarrassed he didn’t know the extent of his own capabilities.

“Yup, you could have the best phone sex in the wooorld~”

“MIU! We need to focus!”

“Sorry, sorry, hehe. Anyway, it’s gonna take me a while but I can stay on the line with you the whole time while I work, so until I’m done sitting everything up I’m afraid you’re just gonna have to sit tight.”

“Yea… I guess.” Kiibo was dejected, but he knew it would take awhile for the backup to arrive anyway.

He could only hope his friends inside were still safe and sound.

* * *

Ruruka had felt a lot less tense the moment she and Izayoi had left that room full of people she couldn’t trust.

That didn’t stop the bubbling anger she felt at one of those people trailing behind them though.

In a huff, she turned around, shooting Kimura a chilling glare before loudly declaring “Stop following us! You’re probably the attacker anyway!” If she were being honest she didn’t really think Kimura capable of all this, but she still hadn’t forgiven her for what happened at Hope’s Peak. She couldn’t help but be weary of being followed by her.

As if to punctuate her statement, Izayoi revealed the rest of his kunai, adjusting his grip so that he was in a sort of semi-battle stance.

“W-wait! That’s not- I’m not!” Kimura stumbled over her words in her haste to reply.

A look of annoyance mixed with hesitation flashed over Ruruka’s face in response. “Fine, we’re waiting. What do _you_ want?” she spat out, in a tone that suggested she’d rather be anywhere else in the world talking to anyone else.

“Just… l-let me stay with you guys! Let me prove I’m not a threat!” Kimura looked like she was a second away from getting on her knees and begging.

Ruruka really couldn’t see her game, and she was beyond wary of letting her join them without knowing what her real motives were.

But against her better judgement, she decided it’d be more of a hassle if she didn’t know where Kimura was. You have to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, right?

There was a tense moment of silence as she stared icily at Kimura, who withered under the glare.

Finally she spoke up, looking annoyed. “Whatever. Just don’t get in our  way. And if you try anything funny I won’t hesitate to have Yoi put a kunai in your neck.”

“T-thank you so much! You won’t regret this.” Ruruka doubted that.

Kimura was elated at being given permission to stay. She hadn’t had very many friends at Hope’s Peak, and it saddened her that their friendship had left off the way it did. She wasn’t quite sure exactly what had caused their expulsions, but she wanted to believe it wasn’t either of theirs faults. And maybe… even if it was her fault, it was for the better. She had been picked up by the Future Foundation immediately following her expulsion, so it couldn’t have been that bad, right? If it really had been Ruruka’s fault they got expelled, maybe that was why. Maybe she knew they would get into the future foundation. There had to be some reason she would’ve done that.  

Well, the past was the past. She was determined to just make it a bad chapter in the history of their friendship. That was easier said than done though, when the other two would barely glance her way.

They continued on in silence for a while, meandering the halllways in search of an exit or clue, until Ruruka checked her bracelet.

She clung to Izayoi’s arm as she announced “Yoiii! The time limit is almost up. I’m scared…”

He simply continued walking, Kimura trailing behind them, as he said “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“You’re right! I feel safer already.”

Suddenly their bracelets let out a chime as the time limit expired. “See you… Yoi.” She said as she snuggled into his arm and they were all put to sleep.

When she next woke up it wasn’t wrapped around Izayoi’s arm but rather on the cold hard floor beneath them.

She didn’t have to look far to determine why.

There was a pool of blood inches from where she laid on the ground. Dread built in the pit of her stomach as she followed it to it’s source. Izayoi lay in the center of it, his own remaining kunai were stabbed in both of his ears. His shirt was lifted to reveal his stomach which was slit cleanly straight across. A dagger lay nearby.

“…Yoi?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally reached that mature rating bois. I'm not too good at describing dead bodies lol. You should be able to figure out some forbidden actions this chapter, but I'll be interested to see the theories.
> 
> Hopefully now that I've got the ball rolling things'll really get under way next chapter. I'm sorry I still can't give a proper update schedule. My love goes out to anyone who decides to stick this out with me and actually enjoys it. Feedback is always appreciated, and I'm sorry to anyone I didn’t reply to last time! I read them all though, and I love every comment I get, whether it be a simple encouragement or a well thought out criticism because I need all of those tbh
> 
> Meanwhile in a parallel universe:  
> Ouma blinked at his wrist astonished, who knew such a mundane action would get him killed.  
> He didn't have time to waste.  
> He wasn't Kiyo, but there was never a good reason not to have rope on you.  
> "Hey, heeeey! Saihara-chan! Hold still for a second!" He said dashing up to him and ignoring the confused glances everyone threw at him.  
> "Hey, where'd he get that rope?!" Sakakura yelled.  
> "Huh? Wha- Ouma-kun!" Saihara exclaimed as Ouma swiftly looped the rope around his head, keeping his hat attached tightly before tying it off. "There. All finished~"  
> "W-what was that for?!" Saihara practically shouted at him.  
> "What? My beloved Saihara-chan looks so adorable with his hat on! I'd simply die if he took it off~" And for once he was telling the truth, not that he had to say that out loud.  
> A look of understanding passed Saihara's face. "A-ah, I see..." He looked down, face flushed, but made no move to remove the hat.  
> Crisis averted, for now...  
> \---  
> By the way, these are going to be a thing now, so at least there's something to look forward to at the end of every chapter! I mean, unless you don't like them... Honestly though, I could probably make a 10+ chapter crack fic with these mini universes alone. They won't always be about forbidden actions (hopefully), but consider this one ouma's revenge for the last one.


End file.
